Fundraising drive for murdered Scottish Muslim shopkeeper hits £100,000

A campaign launched in memory of a much-loved Glasgow shopkeeper stabbed to death hours after posting an Easter message of tolerance online has surpassed £100,000 ($143,000) in just six days.

Asad Shah, 40, was a “popular, well respected and much loved” member of the community, according to the GoFundMe page set up by local residents to help Shah’s family cover funeral costs.

READ MORE: Muslim shopkeeper who wrote loving Easter posts stabbed to death in ‘religiously prejudiced’ attack

Loyal customers of Shah had initially hoped to raise £1,500 through the online campaign, but the target was surpassed 66 times over as more than 5,000 people donated from all across the world.

The Scottish-Muslim man was stabbed in front of eyewitnesses outside his shop at around 9 p.m. Thursday night. Just four hours earlier, Shah shared an happy Easter message calling for peace and unity on his Facebook page.

A 32-year-old Muslim man has been arrested in connection with the murder.

The accused may have travelled 200 miles from Bradford to carry out the “religiously prejudiced” attack, according to police.